Form Forward: Brett Weston and Photographers of Things Unseen

In 2021, the Christian Keesee Collection in collaboration with the Brett Weston Archive donated a suite of photographs Weston to the Norton. Over a nearly 70-year career the artist gained critical acclaim for his bold, high-contrast abstractions that include panoramic landscapes and highly detailed images of natural textures. With the recent gift of Weston’s work as a catalyst, Form Forward explores how photographers since the 1930s have engaged with forms distilled from our natural environment.  

Expanding beyond Weston’s compositions, this exhibition features photographers who experiment with landscapes to find abstract forms. The installation illuminates not only the beauty, but also the significance, of objects, places, and histories that we often leave unseen.

Organized by the Norton Museum of Art.

Support for this exhibition was provided by the William and Sarah Ross Soter Photography Fund, the Michael M. Rea Endowment for Special Exhibitions, and the Gioconda and Joseph King Endowment for Exhibitions.